WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tyese Purvis ran off the court Saturday morning with her hands covering her face. When she looked down, all she saw was blood. A lot of it.
“There was a whole pool of it in my hands,” the Exodus Lady Lions rising senior said. “I didn’t want to get blood on the court.”
Purvis, who plays at Francis Lewis, caught an elbow between the eyes during the game at the Capital Sports Complex in the USJN/Nike National Championships, and was immediately rushed to the hospital by her aunt, Dawn Locke. The cut was deep – she needed six stitches.
Purvis was given local anesthesia once at the hospital and doctors told her that the stitches should be removed in five days.
“I could feel it pulling and everything, it was a weird feeling,” she said. “It wasn’t pain, but it was weird.”
Yet she was back a few hours later for the Lady Lions’ 9 p.m. game Saturday night and their one game Sunday at American University. Purvis wanted to play, but coach Celia Davis didn’t let her.
“It’s hard to watch my team sitting on the bench,” Purvis said. “They’re saying they don’t know yet, but I keep saying I gotta play next.”
That game comes Monday at the Insider Exposure ATL Summer Slam in Jonesboro, Ga. Purvis is hoping to continue a successful summer that has seen her gain interest from Northeastern, Morgan State, Cornell and Manhattan.
She might have to just carry on with a scar.
Bulldogs last city team standing: Lynbrook’s Brooke Gerstman had 18 points, Archbishop Molloy’s Amani Tatum had 10 points and Molloy’s Carolyn Gallagher and Sachem East’s Kristen Doherty each had eight to lead the New York City Bulldogs to a 52-35 win over the Lady Pearls Elite (Md.) in the bronze bracket first round. They play in the quarterfinals 8 a.m. at Capital Sports Complex in District Heights, Md., and have not lost a game since Gallagher returned Saturday from a month-long hiking trip to the Grand Canyon.
“She makes a big difference in the way the team plays,” Bulldogs coach Tom Catalanotto said. “She takes up space. She blocks shots. She gets rebounds. Sometimes that’s all we need. Otherwise we’re all guards.”
Catalanotto didn’t want to play in the bronze bracket – the Bulldogs have won championships this travel season before – but he said it was the luck of the draw that they ended up here.
“We did GymRats,” Tatum said of the Albany tournament in June. “Winning that was unbelievable, so this shouldn’t be a problem. That’s my opinion.”
Nuss’ effort not enough for Exodus II (Conn.): Christ the King rising senior Lauren Nuss dropped in 11 points, including three 3-pointers, in a 72-64 loss to the Southern Maryland Storm in the first round of the bronze bracket playoffs. Her driving baseline layup with 1:10 to go pulled Exodus II, which finished 4-2, within 67-61.
Notes: Long Island Lighting Dingle guard Jazmine Hamlet’s finger roll put her team up for good in a 37-33 win Sunday at American over the NE Lady Panthers (Mass.). Hamlet has made a habit of clutch shots. Her layup at the buzzer for Francis Lewis this season beat Long Island Lutheran. The Lightning finished 2-3 on the weekend. … New Heights Blue fell Sunday night to the WPA Bruins (Pa.) in the silver bracket first round. Rock Rosa’s team finished 3-3. … Ogechukwu Uwanaka of Morrisania averaged a double double every game this weekend for Baseline. Onia Webb of Cardinal Spellman also earned interest from Northeastern this weekend and Tyler Moses of Wings Academy led Tomas Baez’s team in rebounding.
Additional reporting by Joseph Staszewski
